On 14 March, the Political Director Asta Skaisgirytė took part in political consultations in Rome. Skaisgirytė met with the Italian Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome Luca Giansanti and discussed issues of security and defence, the Eastern Partnership initiative, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Western Balkans.

On 14 March, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Neris Germanas attended a meeting of representatives from the Foreign Ministries in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) format. The meeting discussed issues of regional security, Brexit, hybrid threats, cyber and energy security, and relations with Russia.

At a high-level conference the “Next Multiannual Financial Framework: distributive, allocative and stabilization functions” in Sofia on 9 March, the Vice-Minister Albinas Zananavičius and representatives from member states of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and other institutions discussed political priorities and perspectives for the EU budget.

On 6 March in Washington, D.C., the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, together with his Latvian and Estonian counterparts, visited the United States Congress, where they held meetings with representatives of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Baltic Foreign Ministers met with the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives Ed Royce and the Committee’s Ranking Member Eliot Engel, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Bob Corker and the Committee’s Ranking Member Robert Menendez, and the Senator James Risch.

“Having suffered under three occupations during World War II, Lithuania remembers and respects all victims of the Nazi and Communist totalitarian regimes. The end of the Second World War brought about the Soviet occupation that lasted half a century. The people of Lithuania were victims of crimes against humanity and human rights abuses by the Soviet authorities. Lithuanian freedom fighters, who took part in an armed resistance movement against the occupational authorities and domestic collaborators during a post-war period, deserve our utmost respect. They will always remain our heroes,” said the Ambassador Andrius Krivas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN Office and other International Organisations in Geneva at the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on 28 February in response to the statement by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This morning Lavrov slammed Lithuania for ‘justifying Nazi collaborators’.

On 27 February, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Darius Skusevičius attended a high-level segment of the opening of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 37th session that focused on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On 26 February in Brussels, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius participated in the EU's Foreign Affairs Council meeting. The Council discussed Moldova, the Middle East peace process, and Venezuela.

On 22 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius participated in the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Ministers discussed the potential role of the EU in revitalizing the Middle East peace process and met with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

On 19 January at the Embassy of Sweden in Vilnius, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius opened the annual Nordic-Baltic Conference dedicated to regional issues and challenges. The event is traditionally held at the beginning of the year and brings together politicians, representatives of academia and embassies. The meeting reviewed issues related to regional security, society’s resilience to propaganda, hybrid threats, and energy security.

“The creation and consolidation of the state of Lithuania 100 years ago would be unthinkable without the Jewish contribution. We respect Jewish traditions and foster Jewish heritage,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius in a meeting with the Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) David Harris.

On 15-16 January in Sofia, the Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Asta Skaisgirytė attended an informal meeting of Political Directors of the EU’s Foreign Ministries. The meeting was organised by Bulgaria, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 January. The EU Political Directors met to align EU foreign policy priorities for the first half of 2018 and discussed issues related to Russia, the Western Balkans, and the situation in the Middle East.

An informal Snow Meeting brought together Lithuanian and foreign security policy experts on 11-12 January in Trakai district. The meeting discussed the main challenges facing the transatlantic community and ways to respond to them.

The UN General Assembly resolution on Status of Jerusalem, adopted on 21 December 2017, reaffirms the provisions of relevant UN resolutions, adopted earlier on this issue. The resolution also reflects a long-held common position of the European Union on this issue.

On 18 December at his meeting with the OECD delegation headed by Nicola Bonucci, coordinator for Lithuania’s accession, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, discussed the most important issues in relation to Lithuania’s accession to the OECD and the remaining tasks. Lithuania aims to be invited to become a member next year.